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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Ventura County Leadership Academy

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 475675277
CA · NTEE W70
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Pattie Braga, Executive Director / CEO ($136,277) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 42 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 90th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Pattie Braga — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

42 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 42 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,490 total compensation of comparable organizations → $169,772 $136,277
$13,07210th
$30,21825th
$94,598Median
$117,85475th
$130,69290th
$136,277This org · 90th
p10$13,072
p25$30,218
p50$94,598
p75$117,854
p90$130,692
$136,277

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to CA cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
Leadership Oakland MI$260,741 Executive Director $82,000 $100,611 2024
The Jackson Institute Inc GA$256,657 Chairman $142,041 $169,772 2024
Black Leadership & Legacies Inc IN$256,064 President $61,500 $77,094 2024
Leadership Ashtabula County Inc OH$252,148 Executive Director $63,059 $81,738 2023
Women Of Color Roar Media CA$249,608 President $65,000 $66,720 2024
Board Development Systems Inc TX$267,973 President/ce $87,729 $104,317 2024
Leadership Training International VA$247,977 President/ce $81,292 $93,304 2024
Purposequest International Inc PA$242,579 President/chairman $10,428 $12,727 2023
The Serving Way PA$240,190 President $10,667 $13,019 2023
The Michiana Leadership Center Inc IN$281,067 Executive Director $75,542 $97,494 2023
Greater Missouri Leadership MO$235,713 Executive Di $95,000 $123,141 2023
Leading For Change Inc AZ$231,487 President & Ceo $109,740 $125,457 2024
Barbara Jean Brown Foundation WA$286,334 Secretary $1,400 $1,490 2024
Center For Democracy And Development In The Americas Inc DC$289,679 President (Ceo) $54,167 $58,172 2023
Lideramos CO$227,132 Executive Dir. $102,451 $116,778 2024
Rise Up Woman International IN$226,790 President $10,500 $13,551 2023
Hope Anchor & Crew Inc IN$226,571 President $38,077 $49,142 2023
Leadership Lorain County Inc OH$224,812 President & Ceo $75,800 $95,435 2024
Severn Leadership Group Inc MD$294,110 President $116,192 $129,128 2024
Move For America MN$220,083 Executive Director $7,500 $9,070 2023
Mclaran Leadership Foundation OR$217,633 Executive Director $15,154 $16,729 2024
Lead Dsm IA$301,859 Executive Director $96,689 $129,565 2023
Georgia Athletic Directors Association GA$214,748 Executive Director $6,000 $7,172 2024
Catawba Valley Leadership Foundation Inc NC$212,187 Foundation Director $42,375 $52,047 2024
Leadership Lincoln Inc NE$307,779 Executive Director $87,388 $115,029 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA cost of living and 2025 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to CA cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default90th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)98th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted93rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted86th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Pattie Braga) was approved in advance by [the Board / Compensation Committee], composed of members with no conflict of interest with respect to the arrangement.
  2. Prior to its determination, the authorized body obtained and relied upon appropriate comparability data, namely the PeerBasis Compensation Comparability Determination dated June 9, 2026, comparing compensation against 42 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (W70), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $136,277 is reasonable (approximately the 90th percentile of comparable organizations) and documented the basis for this determination concurrently, on [date], by a vote of [__ for / __ against].

Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.